Experimental and numerical analyses on the characteristics of twin skew rolling

Elastic-plastic FEA was carried out on the rolling process of twin skew rolling for a blooming mill to evaluate the influences of roll diameter, skew angle, and coefficient of friction on the suppression effect of porosities in the vicinity of centre axis of the material. Rolling by using a proto-type mill and modelling clay was then carried out to verify the validity of numerical analysis. Both results showed that the larger the roll diameter, and also the larger the coefficient of friction, the higher the suppression effect of porosities

Estimation of response of steel sheet plated with thin hard layer

Elastic and elastic-plastic responses were examined of cantilevers made from a cold rolled steel sheet and made from the same sheet plated with a thin hard layer. Tension test of these sheets showed a non-linear behaviour even in the area of small strain and conventional linear theory of cantilever had to be modified. By extending this theory to a sheet plated with a thin hard layer Young’s modulus of plated layer was estimated. The range of estimated Young’s modulus was similar to those in previous works but material non-linearity, especially on the compression side, must be measured more precisely

Preferable Forms of Relaxation for Health Promotion, and the Association between Recreational Activities and Self-perceived Health

Little research has been done on the association between relaxation and health. In the present study, by conducting a nationwide cross-sectional survey, we aimed to obtain scientific data on the preferable forms of relaxation for health promotion, and to clarify the associations between specific recreational activities and self-perceived mental and physical health. We selected 4,000 households by stratified random sampling from across Japan in November 2009 and used the interview method to collect data (number of subjects:2,206). The questionnaire contained items on sleep, recreation status, recreational activities, and self-perceived mental and physical health status. We obtained responses from 1,224 adults (response rate:55.5%). Insufficient rest from sleep, short sleep duration (＜6h/day), ineffective use of free time, and less free time used for activities other than rest showed independent positive associations with poor mental and physical health. The results of the logistic regression analyses showed significantly low adjusted odds ratios with regard to the status of poor mental and physical health for outings/walking among men (0.33 [95% confidence interval;0.16-0.68] and 0.49 [0.26-0.90], respectively), and for community activities among women (0.19 [0.04-0.79] and 0.27 [0.09-0.77], respectively). Relaxation for the promotion of health should include both passive relaxation (rest) and active relaxation (recreation). In addition, ensuring sufficient sleep duration is important for passive relaxation, and engaging in outings/walking for men and community activities for women are important for active relaxation

SUMOylation of Paraflagellar Rod Protein, PFR1, and Its Stage-Specific Localization in Trypanosoma cruzi

BACKGROUND: The flagellate protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, is a causative agent of Chagas disease that is transmitted by reduviid bugs to humans. The parasite exists in multiple morphological forms in both vector and host, and cell differentiation in T. cruzi is tightly associated with stage-specific protein synthesis and degradation. However, the specific molecular mechanisms responsible for this coordinated cell differentiation are unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The SUMO conjugation system plays an important role in specific protein expression. In T. cruzi, a subset of SUMOlylated protein candidates and the nuclear localization of SUMO have been shown. Here, we examined the biological roles of SUMO in T. cruzi. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis of SUMO consensus motifs within T. cruzi SUMO using a bacterial SUMOylation system revealed that T. cruzi SUMO can polymerize. Indirect fluorescence analysis using T. cruzi SUMO-specific antibody showed the extra-nuclear localization of SUMO on the flagellum of epimastigote and metacyclic and bloodstream trypomastigote stages. In the short-flagellate intracellular amastigote, an extra-nuclear distribution of SUMO is associated with basement of the flagellum and becomes distributed along the flagellum as amastigote transforms into trypomastigote. We examined the flagellar target protein of SUMO and show that a paraflagellar rod protein, PFR1, is SUMOylated. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that SUMOylation is associated with flagellar homeostasis throughout the parasite life cycle, which may play an important role in differentiation of T. cruzi

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

Direct synthesis of barium titanium oxyhydride promising for electrode material with hydrogen permeability

Barium titanium oxyhydride BaTiO3–xHx is a promising functional material that exhibits H–/e– mixed conduction and catalytic activity. Here we firstly report a direct synthesis of BaTiO3–xHx by mechanochemical method. The prepared polycrystalline sample was able to work as electrodes exhibiting hydrogen pearmeability